In this employment profile we focus on Sustainable Development Goal 8 that aims at promoting inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all.

The economic development in the ESCWA region is accompanied by an overexploitation of resources causing adverse impacts on the environment, particularly deteriorating air and water quality, diminishing water resources, land degradation and desertification, and biodiversity loss, all of which affect the sustainability and quality of life.

This study uses analytical and quantitative analysis to examine the interdependence between government expenditure and government revenue from one side and governance indicators from the other in selected oil importers and exporters in the region. Among the questions we examine are the following; how does corruption, the rule of law, government effectiveness, accountability, regulatory quality and political stability affect expenditure on health, education, and social spending, tax revenue (direct and indirect) and non-tax revenue, among other things.

The information society, in which information is processed efficiently, including the production, exchange, adaptation and use of information, is the appropriate environment for achieving sustainable development and enhancing the quality of life for all citizens. However, the move towards the information society constitutes a real challenge to developing countries, particularly in view of the expanding digital divide with developed countries, thus rendering them increasingly vulnerable to reduction in their productive and economic capacities.